Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Stephen

Can I use the Time Management Matrix in my software?

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:07:18 -0800

Can I use the "Time Management Matrix" in a commercial software product without any legal repercussions? (If you're not familiar with the Time Management Matrix, you can find a good primer here.)

My understanding is that the Matrix was popularized by Stephen Covey's book First Things First, and was later featured in some of his other books. Since then it has been widely used in motivational and leadership books and seminars. There are dozens of articles and pages about it online. It very likely existed in other forms, at least in concept, before Covey wrote about it.

I am interested in including a visual representation, description, and interactive version of this Matrix in a piece of commercial software I am writing. Without giving away too much of the application's functionality, essentially a user will be able to click one of the quadrants of the Matrix to assign a task to it, view a list of tasks sorted by quadrant, etc. The software would also include a brief description of the Matrix and its quadrants, with no direct quotations from Covey's book or any other sources. In fact, I don't plan on mentioning Covey at all (unless I must for attribution) in order to avoid any implications of endorsement.

Would I run into any legal issues if I do this? I can't find any solid evidence on whether Covey invented the concept or the term, so that's the first thing I need to find out. After that, I need to know what I can do if he does have some claim of ownership to it.

Do you need to get licensing agreements for these things?

Submiqent — Thu, 14 May 2009 22:50:30 -0800

Image licensing and advertising on the Colbert Report Does Comedy Central or the Stephen Colbert show have to get licenses of every image he uses on the show? For instance in one segment, he says "back then, most people just prayed for more flavourful tar in their Chesterfields" accompanied with the relevant picture of a (presumably) copyrighted Chesterfields pack.

Also there's many prop food products he shows off which seems very clearly to be advertising, but due to the nature of his show, he may only react positively to the product and jokingly denounce it. I had the impression advertising companies were too uptight about negative comments to be into this kind of advertising?

Though he does a lot more obvious advertising with Doritos and the like, it's the small stuff that makes me wonder how they manage it.

Ask Jeeves

misha — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 15:36:59 -0800

I have come into some Amazon.com credit, and I want to spend it on the Fry/Laurie Jeeves series; although I have never seen it, I adore the Wodehouse books and the two stars so I don't see how I could go wrong! I can't afford all the episodes, though. Which season would you recommend to me, and why?

Photos from A Walk in the Woods?

jclovebrew — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 13:07:22 -0800

Did Bill Bryson and/or Stephen Katz take any photos during their Walk in the Woods? Are they online anywhere? I'd love to see them.

What's with all the bearded women in "Shaolin Soccer"?

ostranenie — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 22:35:07 -0800

What's with all the bearded women in Stephen Chow's movie "Shaolin Soccer"? There's a bearded makeup lady and an entire bearded female soccer team. Any cultural significance? In-joke?

O'Reilly Parodies.

gregb1007 — Mon, 08 May 2006 21:03:29 -0800

Have you noticed anyone parodying Bill O'Reilly on TV? Ever Since Stephen Colbert's show premiered, I noticed that he parodied Bill O'Reilly's style on the O'Reilly Factor. I would really be interested in finding out if anyone else (comedian or otherwise) parodies Bill O'Reilly on television. Once I learn who parodies Bill, I'll try to catch a clip of it on TV, internet, or video.